Pope Francis

We should be skeptical of conspiracy theories, mainly because they assume too much skill and intelligence from conspirators. Experience tells us ignorance and incompetence are much more common among those holding power and influence. Continue Reading...

Climate change is a prominent and contentious topic in our current political sphere. Pope Francis offers a perspective on the issue, but church leaders have expressed differing opinions. As Christians, how should we approach environmental concerns? Continue Reading...

After almost twenty years in Rome, I’ve learned not to insist too much on the Vatican reading the USA with any kind of accuracy, so I usually don’t feel the need to comment on every little misunderstanding coming from the Roman Curia. Continue Reading...

Earlier this month Fr. Robert Sirico delivered an address to the Liberty Forum of Silicon Valley titled, ‘Defending the Free Market: The Moral Case for a Free Economy’.
The talk begins with an account of a formative childhood experience which first kindled in him a passion for justice. Continue Reading...

Having visited Nicaragua just prior to and immediately following the elections which initially ousted the Sandinistas from power in 1990, I was struck by the news this week from Rome.
Evidently sometime in the last few weeks, when exactly remains unclear, Pope Francis lifted the canonical penalties imposed by Pope St. Continue Reading...

In The Idol of Our Age: How the Religion of Humanity Subverts Christianity (Encounter Books, 2018), Daniel J. Mahoney confronts a central heresy of our age, the “remarkably truncated view of human beings” that fails to “acknowledge the hierarchy of goods and values that characterize the moral order and the life of the soul.”
He traces the genealogy of contemporary humanitarianism and its critics from Auguste Comte through Pope Benedict XVI. Continue Reading...

Pope Francis’ recent Christmas message, ‘Urbi et Orbi’, was a meditation on the roots of fraternity in the incarnation:
What does that Child, born for us of the Virgin Mary, have to tell us? Continue Reading...

This article is written by Moris Polanco, originally published by Instituto Fe y Libertad and republished with permission.
The elderly cardinal Zen Ze-kiun, bishop emeritus of Hong Kong, said in his blog on February 5, 2018, “The brothers and sisters of mainland China are not afraid of being reduced to poverty, of being put into prison, of shedding their blood. Continue Reading...

Freedom of the press is a crucial component to a virtuous, flourishing society, as Pope Francis affirmed on June 20 when he called for greater liberty for the press. The pope’s comments come six months into the detention of two Reuters reporters by the Myanmar government. Continue Reading...

Review of Pope Francis and the Caring Society, edited by Robert M. Whaples; The Independent Institute, Oakland, CA; 2017, 234 pp.
Having toiled in the free-market research universe for nearly two decades, perhaps the most common misperception I’ve encountered is “whataboutism.” Readers know of which I write: “What about BP and Deepwater Horizon?” or “What about Enron?” and, perhaps most stridently, “What about the mortgage-lending industry’s complicity in causing the Great Recession?” When this rhetorical strafing fails, there’s always the “What about the poor?” and the “What about the environment?” macro-strategies. Continue Reading...